Container closure



Oct. 22, 1935. H, c KE 2,018,033

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed April 2, 1954 IN VENTOR.

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BY 60% 37b ATTORNE Patented Oct. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECONTAINER CLOSURE Application April 2, 1934, Serial No. 718,673

1 Claim.

This invention relates to easily and selectively openable closure meansfor material-containing receptacles, and has for its object an improvedorganization of parts by means of which some such material-containingarticle as a tube of tooth paste or shaving soap may be effectivelyclosed when not in use against the undesired egress of the containedmaterial, and yet which can be easily and quickly opened when the use ofthe contained material is desired. While adapted to any form ofcontainer, and. one whose contents are either fluid, granular, or pasty,I will, for the sake of clearness, describe my invention as applied to acollapsible tube such as used for tooth paste, shaving soap and thelike. The adaptability of the principle involved to other uses will ofcourse be obvious.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective of the top of a tooth paste tubeequipped with my preferred form of closure member, the manuallyeifectible change from open to closed position being indicated in dottedlines.

Figure 2 is a side sectional elevational view,

5 showing my improved construction in closed position relatively to theegress aperture in the container wall.

Figure 3 is a similar elevational View showing the parts in openposition, both being taken on 30 the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view from above, the aperture closing block beingshown in full lines and in open position, while its closed position isindicated in dotted lines. 5 Figure 5 shows a possible modification inthe form of the block-confining cage or frame.

Figure 6 illustrates the applicability of my invention to a relativelybulky plug or bottle stopper which is itself individually removable fromthe 40 container.

A indicates the collapsible side wall of a cylindrical tooth pastecontainer, and B its end wall, which in many forms of containers now inuse is crowned by a removable screw cap over a 5 correspondinglythreaded vent orifice. The objection to this form is that to effect thequick removal and replacement of the cap the use of the fingers of bothhands is necessary, whereas to do this it is generally necessary totemporarily 50 lay down the brush held by one of the users hands.

In the preferred form here illustrated I provide a discharge aperture Cin the end wall B of the tube, and positioned spacedly over it across-sec- 55 tionally U-shaped frame D whose base flanges D areattached to the end wall B by soldering or other suitable means, theraised central portion of the frame spanning the aperture C in the endwall B being provided in its top web with an aperture E axially inalignment with the end wall 5 aperture 0.

Within this frame, and so held by it that its under surface is infrictional engagement with the end wall B of the tube, is a closureblock F, which is not so tightly held but that it can be 10 movedlimitedly lengthwise by the pressure of ones thumb or finger while theremaining fingers of ones hand serve to' grip the body of the tube. Thelimit of possible movement of the block is preferably fixed by theslightly .up-turned flanges 5 or shoulders G at either end of the block.Through the body of the block extends a vent hole H, which, when theblock is in the open position shown in Figure 1, is in registry withboth of the other apertures C and E, thus per- 20 mittingpressure-induced egress of the paste within the tube through the channelthus provided. When, however, the block is moved to the other limit ofits possible path of travel, or even partly theretoward the one boredportion of its body is then placed in blanking position with respect tothe aperture C in the end wall B of the tube, as well as to the apertureE in the frame; thus no further paste can escape from the tube.

It is desirable, though not indispensible, that in some cases thefrictional action of the lower face of the block over the top surface ofthe end wall B be increased somewhat by the provision of some such meansas a pad J, of cork, felt, or similar material, which, without actuallyrendering the lengthwise movement of the block under thumb pressureimpossible, will retard it to the degree of making its closure of thevent hole C leak-proof. This pad could of course, with equal facility bepositionedon the corresponding surface of the end wall B, instead of onthe bottom surface of the block F. v

Similarly, also, in place of the cork or felt pad on the bottom of theblock F to assure friction of its under face against the apertured endwall B, the block could be made slightly wedge-shaped in the sense ofnon-parallelism of its top and bottom surfaces, so that as the block ismoved lengthwise of itself through the confining frame, the parallelvertical sides being uniformly frictionally engaged bythe correspondinginner surfaces of the frame, the block, because of its increasing heightas the far end of the block is forced within the frame, is forced withincreasing 55 pressure into closure position over the vent hole in theend wall of the container. 7

And since closure of the vent hole C represents the crux of the functionperformed by the block F, the registry hole E in the top of the frame Dmay be made of any desired size, even to the extent of skeletonizing theentire top surface of the frame piece D, whose function is the holdingof the block F in slidable relation to the, end wall B. This possiblemodification is shown in Figure 5. In such a case, so long as the ventaperture C in the end wall B, and the hole or bore H in the block F arein registry, the ejected paste could thus flow out without regard to howlarge the hole or cut-away portion inthe top of'the frame D was.

The closure means herein disclosed being also adapted for use not onlyon containers; contain? frame D", is positioned upon the top of astopper L which is vertically traversed by a bore K for the egress ofthe contents of the container M when the block F is moved to openingposition. What I claim is:

A manually actuable closure piece for a container, comprising, incombination with an apertured wall thereof, a similarly aperturedmanually-slidable member adapted to have its. aperturedportion moved toposition of registry there- 10 with, a correspondingly apertured framepiece, spacedly supported by said container Wall above the aperturetherein and adapted to limit the degree and direction of possiblemovement of said slidable member, and means carried by said 15frictionally oppose movement of said member 20 fromapositionofnonregistry to, a position of registry.

HAZELC. RICKERD..

